Chapter 11: Sierra Madre Grand Opening

When Dee awoke she found herself on rough, cold concrete with chunks of rock that dug painfully into her skin and fur as she forced herself up to her knees. As she breathed, Dee felt something like smoke enter her nose and she coughed on it before she could stand.

"You there, with the Rotom-boy, get up!" the old masculine voice that crackled from an ancient speaker drew Dee's attention as she forced herself to stand up and take stock of her situation.

First thing Dee noticed was that she was naked, devoid of any of her gear or supplies, save her Rotom-boy that was still attached to her left wrist. "Not again…" she mumbled. As she looked around the second thing she notice was that there was a dark fog that blotted out most of the sun and left a dim haze over the entire area.

Third was the glowing green-blue projected image of an old human man over the large fountain in front of her, with the same voice that had just spoken to her, "Are you listening? Good. From now on, when I talk, listen – and follow my instructions. Play stupid, play clever, make the mistake of saying 'no'? I can use the dark ring on your neck to make you suffer or die."

"Dark ring?" Dee reached up to her neck and felt something there, a solid ring that hovered around her neck without touching it. She grabbed hold, which hurt, and tried to pull it off.

"Yes," the man in the projection held up a ribbed Poke Ball, "Stop that now!" he squeezed the ball and a massive jolt of pain shot through Dee which forced her to release the ring as she tried desperately to stay on her feet. The man stopped squeezing and the pain stopped as he continued "Do what I say, and the ring will stay inert… refuse, try and run, disobey me? I'll kill you and find someone else."

Dee looked up at the ball in his hand, "A Poke Ball? You captured me?! Am I your slave now?!"

"Perhaps before the war," the man lowered the ball form sight, "But with human DNA added to the mix you're not all Pokemon anymore so the bond like that used to aid in subjugation is gone. These Dark Balls came with the control ring that could override their will, but with enough tinkering I found I could use them on anyone living and apply the right force to punish disobedience. You no doubt saw the headless body in the bunker, that is the price for disobedience."

Dee shook with both fear and rage as she remembered she'd seen Dark Balls before, the broken ones in the Big MT and knowing that he had likely got them from that nightmare. With little other choice she forced herself to relax then looked up at the man, "Who are you and what do you want me to do?"

The man seemed to relax, "Good, obedience will make this go faster. My name is Elijah and as for what you will do, look up."

Dee did and saw a tall building atop a ridge in the distance through the dark haze.

Elijah continued, "That structure you see above the fountain – the Sierra Madre Casino… you need to break inside. A… heist. Too many years in the making. But to get inside, avoid its traps… you'll need to gather the time. As I've found, one cannot do it alone. Around the Villa are three others I've captured. Find all three and get them, here, to the Fountain. Then, we'll talk more. And should you get any ideas about killing each other and taking the treasure of the Sierra Madre for yourself – a warning. I've linked all your Dark Balls… one of you dies, you all die. If that's what it takes to make you cooperate, so be it."

Dee gulped as she lowered her gaze, then felt her stomach grumble and realized she was completely without gear, "How am I supposed to survive this without any gear, or food, or water!" Dee was cut off by a sudden fit of coughing.

Elijah waited until Dee's coughing subsided before he continued, "It was not my intention for you to arrive without supplies, but the Sierra Madre rejects any illicit substances and anything with even a trace of radiation. I was forced to reprogram the Dark Balls to strip their victims of any gear if I didn't want you to be rejected outright. For food and water, look in the fountain and take the chips."

Dee stepped towards the fountain had dozens of little golden chips scattered within. She picked one up and saw it had a side-view picture of a woman's head and a small 'SM' to the bottom right.

"Those chips can be used with vending machines you find throughout the Villa, you can't miss them. They will dispense food, water, even medical supplies if you can find the codes from the Villa's clinic," Elijah gestured to his right which drew Dee to the machine with a lit-up screen against a nearby wall. "Those chips are all over town, find them if you need food. As for weapons, I suggest you seek out the Villa's police station, where you will also find your first team member. A reject mutant experiment. He's docile, predictable, and provided he's not starving, should be easy to command."

Dee looked back up at the projection and clench a fist, "I can fight just fine on my own, but why would I need to?" She coughed again, "What's with all this smoke."

"That smoke is The Shadow. It's built up in the centuries since the war, kept the Villa and the Madre preserved even as it blots out the sky. It won't kill you, not right away, even as it seeps into your skin and lungs as long as you can find some shelter indoors." He gave her a quick look over, "I presume you have some skill as a fighter then? It may not do good against the dangers here. The Villa's inhabitants are what remains of the Pokemon used in its construction. The Shadow has made them killing machines and nearly immortal: smash them, shoot them, knock them down, they get back up unless you hack them up, explode or disintegrate them. Best to avoid them and the holograms." He seemed to sense Dee's next question and continued on, "Ghosts, not like Pokemon but old-world projections, most are harmless but others exterminate intruders on sight. The inhabitants are afraid of them even when they don't fight back. They can't be killed but they won't travel far from their patrol routes; if you can't find their projectors to shut them off then you can avoid them. That's enough now get moving or you'll die here, and don't think about trying to leave the villa through the gate or I'll blow your head off." With that, the projection shut off and was replaced by a hologram of a woman who appeared to be singing.

Dee spent several minutes searching the courtyard around the fountain, including the gates that both led towards and away from where the Sierra Madre was perched on high. She found an old backpack, about 100 chips and a few bottles of dirty water which made her gag when she drank it but she choked it down as she knew it was all she might get. The vending machine thankfully still worked and Dee was able to get some preserved food in boxes and cans. She'd had to subsist off this pre-war stuff before so at least she could stomach it, mostly. She covered her mouth from a cough then checked her Rotom-boy, Elijah had marked the three other subjects on her map, and set off towards the villa police station.

The streets of the villa were eerily silent, no wind, no distant Pokemon noises, just the occasional chitter of a Radparas. Dee easily stomped on the mutant bug-type and took its meat to eat as she walked. The streets were too narrow for vehicles, obviously designed for walking, and the walls and balconies were broken and falling apart all around her. A scraping noise nearby made Dee freeze, hold her breath, and see a humanoid form through the haze of the shadow dragging something behind it before it disappeared around a corner. Dee let out a sigh of relief, before she continued onwards, she wasn't eager to meet any of the villa's "inhabitants".

As Dee walked down a narrow road she almost smacked into one of them: a Gurdurr except that its fur was black and dark grey instead of tan and pink and the I-beam it dragged behind it was rusted. As soon as it saw Dee the Gurdurr let out its shuddering cry and charged, swinging its I-beam overhead. Dee dodged back as the I-beam smashed a chunk out the road. Dee charged only to get smashed in the side and nearly toppled over before she delivered a Force Palm to the Gurdurr's side. She spun around to deliver a Blaze Kick and struck the I-beam mid-swing. Dee felt her leg tense up as she and the Gurdurr tried to force the other to yield.

Dee finally jumped back to let the I-beam smash the ground and tried to follow the Shadow Gurdurr. It jumped to Dee's side and smashed the I-beam down on her head. Despite the pain Dee was able to stay focused and conjured an Aura Sphere between her hands as she rounded on the Gurdurr, then realized she couldn't see any aura from it so couldn't even try to lock on as it pulled its I-beam back to swing at her. Dee thrust her hands forwards and slammed the Aura Sphere into the Shadow Gurdurr's chest which stalled for a moment then blew the Gurdurr off its feet and sent it and the sphere spinning into a nearby wall, demolishing most of it as the sphere exploded and half-buried her target.

Dee just stared then slowly drew back her hands and stared at her palms, "Am I really that strong now?" she was shaking slightly. She snapped out of her confusion when she saw the rubble shaking and the Shadow Gurdurr start to get up. Were these things really unkillable? Not wanting to take the chance, Dee bolted for the nearby police station and slammed the door shut behind her. Dee held her breath and closed her eyes to listen for the Gurdurr and heard its I-beam scrape along the ground. After a few minutes she heard it drag the steel beam away and allowed herself to breath. From now on she'd have to rely on her other senses to track the Shadow Pokemon.

Another creature's whimpering drew Dee's attention back into the police station. Aside from the cubicles with desks, computers and radios there was a large holding cell in one corner of the room. The whimpering was coming from a large Pokemon within, from behind it looked like a Hangry Morpeko but it was the size of a Snorlax!

"Hello?" Dee approached the bars and was able to make out the floating energy ring around the giant Morpeko's neck, "I'm here for you."

The Morpeko ignored her, muttering in a whimpering male voice, "No, master not here, voice wants to hurt Dog, Dog not like voice."

"Hello!" Dee raised her voice but still got no response. She focused her aura sight on him and saw a large wild dark aura surrounding them, but strangely also a small more stable yellow aura at its center. With the cell's occupant not responding, Dee took a look at the door. If she was as strong as she thought she was not she probably could have ripped it off or blown it open, but then she might bring the whole building down on their heads or make the huge Morpeko angry so her best course of action was to see if she could find the key.

Half-an-hour of searching the first floor didn't find the key but thankfully some stimpacks and RadAway from the first aid station, water and preserved food from the cafeteria, and a confiscated objects room she was able to hack open from a nearby terminal that contained chems, booze, an automatic rifle with ammo and three frag grenades, the last of which she stuck in her backpack. Out of curiosity, Dee read some of the terminal entries which noted that someone named Sinclair had funded the whole area, Villa and Casino, but that he was very disapproving of alcohol and chem use, to the annoyance of whoever wrote the entry.

With the first floor cleared, Dee headed for the stairs down to the police station's basement, flipping on her Rotom-boy light before she opened the door.

As soon as Dee stepped through the basement door, a voice from the PA system washed over her. "Knew you would come, below the cage… down to where I am. Maybe you saw the letters I scratched on the Villa walls." The voice was male, rough and harsh but Dee kept walking, through a small office, corridors and storerooms as the voice continued. "A little farther. Follow my voice… that's it. The one in the cage? Dog. I had to lock him up. He keeps… disobeying me." Dee couldn't hear anything moving down here or sense anything living. As far as she could tell she was alone aside from the huge Morpeko upstairs.

Finally, she came to a small room where the PA system's microphone and radio sat on a table, and the voice started again. "That's me, there, on the table. The disk. My voice." Dee's attention was drawn to the holodisk that sat on the table next to the PA system as the recorded voice continued, "Can't take any chances, though… you may be some victim who simply stumbled down here. If so, can't let you let Dog out… no, not yet." Dee picked up the holotape and turned to leave but kept listening to the recording, "If you're who I think you are, you came to fetch Dog, use him to drag others here. Now I'll use you – and that Rotom-Boy you're wearing. You're smart. Clever. The key to Dog's cage is simple. Take my voice to the cage above. Let me speak to the beast inside."

By the time the recording stopped, Dee had reached the basement door. Not sure what would happen, she walked back up to the holding cell and, with no other real options, inserted the holotape into her Rotom-Boy and played the short message from the same voice.

"Dog, back in the cage!"

Instantly the huge Morpeko stopped his whimpering and their fur pattern changed from the black and dark purple "hangry" mode to the yellow, brown and black "full belly" mode and they stood up, which let her see that his had a balanced physique. Dee focused and saw that his aura had changed with the large stable yellow aura now surrounding a smaller chaotic purple at its center.

The Morpeko turned to face her and gave a subtle look of surprise, "What have we here?" his voice was identical to the recording from the basement, "You weren't who I was expecting. I'm disappointed."

Dee just stared, "Who are you? What are you? You don't look like any Poke-person I've ever seen."

The huge Morpeko snorted, "I'm not one of you hybridized humans, this body was created as an… experiment to try and bring out the full strength of 'hangry mode' by mixing a Morpeko with the hungriest Pokemon they could think of: Snorlax. It worked and Dog stays hungry… too hungry. I have to reign him in or he starts gorging on whatever, or whoever, he gets his hands on. As for how I can speak? Pokemon can learn any language if they have the dedication, time and will to practise. Though Dog has only picked up the basics that I put time in to learn."

Dee's eyes went wide at the thought then looked down to see the word DOG scarred on the Morpeko/Snorlax's chest, "Dog? Is that your name?"

He laughed, "HA! No. I carved that there so I can see my name in a mirror."

Dee tilted her head sideways, "So you're… God?"

'God' snorted, "I'm no Arceus, I'm Dog's… conscience. My job is to keep him as controlled as possible, when I can. I can see that you're one of the ones Dog carried here, after the old man captured you." He touched the glowing ring around his neck, "I can feel it tugging like a leash, which means the old man's trying to crack the Madre again."

"The old man, you mean Elijah?" Dee had to ask.

"Elijah." 'God' snorted, "Human, weak like all of them are. Feeling age circling him like starved Houndour, howling for blood. To me, he reeks of age and failure. And madness. To me, he is simple the 'Old Man.' To dog, he is 'Master.' His name, meaningless."

"How is he Dog's master?" Dee asked, "And did he lock you in that cell?"

'God' glared at Dee, "He reminds Dog of the one who created him and who he served. Dog clings to someone to give him orders, that's why I locked him in the cell before I was put in the cage, in the… basement before Dog came out eating everything in sight. This Snorlax stomach lets me suppress him if he's full enough now, but sometimes he forces his way out unless he hears my voice."

"How did you change modes when I played your voice," Dee looked at her Rotom-Boy.

"Dog's afraid of my voice and he retreats to the basement if he's satisfied enough," 'God' shook his head, "I can't let him wander all the time or obey the old man."

Dee focused her aura vision on him again, her eyes glowing blue, "I can see a small dark aura at your center, is that Dog?"

'God' peered at Dee, "Ahh, I see you're a Lucario, you are sensitive to Aura. Yes, that's him, hiding for now while we talk."

Dee relaxed her sense, "Then we need to go, if we want to be free we need to break into the Sierra Madre."

'God' laughed, "Haha, no I don't think so. I'm going to stay right here, in this cage, until the Old Man shows himself and we can talk. I'm not letting him control Dog anymore. I know your kind, you start out wanting just to be free, but then the lure of the Madre gets to you, you think you can have it all and you try to kill the competition, including Dog and me, then you end up food for Dog, or the Shadow Pokemon."

"I'm not like that!" Dee's sudden shout made 'God' take a step back, "I just want to be free of this, I promise." Dee started to shake.

'God' eyed her warily, "I believe you now, but give it time and you'll succumb, they all do."

Dee had to step back and take a seat in one of the desk chairs, breathing hard until she calmed down. As she did, a thought occurred to her, "If you're locked in there, you must have the key right? How has Dog not freed himself."

'God' laughed, "Oh the key's in here, buried under some debris. Dog and I don't share everything, it's a blessing… and a curse at times. I don't always know what he's been up to. For example: when he checks the Old Man's traps. Unless he hears the Old Man command him, he'll stay down in his case until I get to chat with him."

Dee stood up, "Then can I talk to Dog, please. I want to know who I'm dealing with."

"Unless you bring the Old Man here, no chance of that." 'God' didn't budge.

Dee looked at her Rotom-Boy and decided to check the stored data, finding an audio file that was downloaded right before 'God's' command tape, "I wonder…" she hit play.

'God' seemed to realize what she was doing and shouted, "No! I'll make you suffer for this I promise-!" only to be cut off by the recording of Elijah's voice.

"Are you listening? Good. From now on when I talk to you, pay attention."

The change was almost instantaneous again as the huge Morpeko's colors changed to the dark purple and black of 'Hangry Mode' and his voice changed to, becoming a deeper and more dull-witted tone.

"MASTER? DOG NOT HEAR YOU COME IN… TOO HUNGRY, NOW… AT CAGE DOOR?" he blinked and looked closer at Dee.

"Are you Dog?" Dee asked.

"MASTER SOUNDS DIFFERENT," Dog scratched his head, "SOFTER, QUIETER. DOG DOESN'T WANT TO BE IN THE CAGE ANY MORE. DOG WILL BE GOOD THIS TIME, DOG PROMISES. THEN MASTER WILL KEEP THE OTHER VOIC AWAY, OTHER VOICE THAT STOPS DOG FROM EATING." Dog raised his left arm and for the first time Dee saw there was a toothed trap clamped onto his left forearm.

"Why is that on your arm?" Dee pointed at the trap.

Dog looked at the toothed trap, as if seeing it for the first time, "DOG REMEMBERS, DOG STUCK IT THERE. PAIN MAKES THE OTHER VOICE GO QUIET SO DOG CAN EAT IN PEACE," he turned to Dee, "WILL YOU LET DOG OUT OF CAGE, DOG PROMISE NOT TO EAT YOU. BUT DOG WANTS TO EAT, SHADOWS POKEMON OUTSIDE GOOD EATING."

Dee gulped and looked at Dog's aura, it was wild and chaotic as he gripped the bars and shook them. She looked up and saw the ceiling start to crack and made the snap decision to bring 'God' out again by playing his command tape.

"Dog, back in the cage!"

"GRRRRRAaaaaaf!" the Morpeko's fur shifted back to 'full belly mode' colors again but this time 'God' looked angry, "I should kill you for that. What were you thinking?"

"I'm sorry!" Dee blurted out, "I just… I wanted to know who Dog was so knew the full picture. Is he just hunger?"

'God' growled again, "Yes! He's always eating because of this damn Snorlax in us!"

"I'm sorry," Dee sunk to her knees, "I… don't know what to do here. I need to help Elijah or I'm going to die here," she wiped some tears from her eyes then took a deep shuddering breath.

'God' gave her an inquisitive look, "If you weren't lured here by the Madre's treasure, why did you come here?"

Dee looked up at 'God', not sure if he'd believe her, "I met a Kirlia-man who saw my future. He said that if I didn't go to the bunker where I was captured then I would be miserable forever, or something like that. Also said the last person who ignored his predictions regretted it for the rest of his life."

'God' just stared at Dee, then laughed in actual mirth before his tone became condescending, "Hahaha! So you came here because a fortune teller told you so. You are as crazy as the Old Man."

"Maybe I am crazy," Dee looked at her Rotom-Boy, "But I'm not like Elijah and I'll prove it."

'God' raised an eyebrow, "Really? How do you expect to do that."

Dee stood up and held her Rotom-Boy, "I have the power to bring Dog out, but I won't do it again. I promise."

'God' gave her an inquisitive look, "Really? I warn you that this… shell is hard for me to control. Dog's a better fighter and his hunger means he'll eat the Shadow Pokemon to keep them dead."

Dee lowered her arm and nodded, "We'll manage. How can I kill them?"

"Blow them up or tear off a limb. Perhaps those spikes on your hands could hack off an arm," 'God' actually smiled, it was a creepy sight, "Maybe you don't belong here after all. Alright, I'll unlock the cage and we can get going. I… trust you."

Dee sighed in relief as 'God' moved a piece of rubble in his cell aside and pulled out a key, which he carefully used to unlock the cell from the inside, "So, where to?"

Dee looked at her Rotom-Boy, "According to this, the Residential District. Can you use any weapons?"

'God' shook his head, "I just have my own abilities," a tangle of lightning shocked up his body, "I'll manage."

"Then let's go," Dee turned and led 'God' out the front of the police station.